1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hydraulic fluid exchanging devices, and more particularly to an apparatus for achieving a proper flow alignment condition between the fluid exchange device and an automotive automatic transmission.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The market environment for automatic transmission fluid exchange systems has undergone relatively rapid recent expansion. Many such devices have been developed for such use. One unresolved problem has been the inherent need for an inexpensive fluid exchanger which is simple to operate and which supports desirable features of some known, more complex and expensive exchange units, such as the bypass circuits and flow alignment mechanisms as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,064 to Viken. In particular, Viken '064 discloses a flow alignment device for aligning the flow of fluid within the exchange device with the fluid flowing in the accessed transmission circuit. Additional desirable features include an indicating system to notify the operator of the device's different modes of operation. These modes may include a fresh fluid filling mode, a fresh fluid completion mode, a fluid exchange mode, and a fluid exchange completion mode of operation. Another limitation has been time consuming fluid exchanges for vehicles with low flow rate transmissions. Some transmissions provide slow flow rate under certain conditions (such as cold ATF fluid) which limits the operability of the displacement type fluid exchangers.